


keepsake

by embersdevine



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Creature Jensen Ackles, Curse Breaking, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:02:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23290648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embersdevine/pseuds/embersdevine
Summary: Here, sleeps your beast.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 238
Collections: SPN_Masquerade Spring 2020





	keepsake

**Author's Note:**

> For the SPN Masquerade prompt: All the youth of the village are warned never to go near the castle in the woods, the beast that lives there will ravish them. However, young Jared might be interested in a little ravishing.

Over the river and beyond the thicket and where the woods grow dense with old trees, the structure rests. Vines creep up the stone walls, both old and new growth, as if trying to blanket the whole thing. The brush covers the base, hiding the larger cracks at the bottom. But they’re there. It’s rather ancient. 

  
  


Dusk brings the castle a certain ominous feeling about it. Perhaps in high noon, it would look like any other abandoned castle, he thinks. It would probably be pleasant to stumble upon under the sun’s warmth instead of the steadily chilling night. 

  
  


But he hadn’t stumbled upon it. Jared had sought it out. He had rationalized it had once belonged to his ancestors; all the village people claim heritage to the lost kingdom, swallowed by the woods. But Jared knows how fickle that idea is. 

  
  


_ Turn your head away from the East, for there, sleeps the beast. _

  
  


The door is easy enough to open. The wood is weathered from the outside and creaks something awful as he pulls. He walks into the main hall, a grand staircase before him. What’s left of daylight streams through the cracked windows, displaying shades of gold in unbroken rays. 

  
  


_ He’ll drag you, ravish you, keep you,  _ said little Adrianne, keeping her voice in a low whisper. 

  
  


Everyone knows the story, though. Jared’s too old for stories now, yet he’s still here. His fingertips brush over the stone as he wanders the halls. Stories are for little children. The scary ones are warnings for those who are too curious; a way for adults to protect them through fear. He’s known this for some time, figured out their little schemes and tricks. 

  
  


A shuffle of broken glass. He whips around, his vision hardly adjusting to the growing darkness. A large rat scampers across the hall and towards the direction Jared had come from. He breathes out a small huff of laughter at his startlement. 

  
  


Perhaps the beast had been a big, fat rat all along. 

  
  


He turns back around and sees a face. 

  
  


The beast towers above him. Green eyes, wild and bright. A snarl uncovers white teeth---fangs? Jared jolts back. Nearly stumbles as he desperately attempts to put distance between them. The heart within his chest beats too loudly in his ears. His limbs hardly work.  _ Run _ , he thinks,  _ I should run _ . 

  
  


It’s fear. Fear is keeping him from taking flight. He can hardly walk backwards. The beast breathes out a growl, the only sound he has made. It’s strangely loud within the castle. Jared shudders. 

  
  


The beast advances on him then and Jared can only suck in a breath before he’s slammed against the wall. He tenses, eyes wide. He’s boxxed in, trapped between the stone and a warm, snarling monster. Both thrill and terror skitter along his skin and he holds his breath. 

A fist slams onto the wall next to his head and Jared jolts slightly. His attention snaps up to the face. There’s fury there, a terrible sort that doesn’t quite fit the lines. A mismatched emotion, much like Jared’s fear. It doesn’t seem to have a place here, like they don’t belong. 

  
  


“Why are you here?” demands the creature.

  
  


And what a pretty creature, Jared thinks. Perhaps all the terrifying ones are. 

  
  
  


Without much thought, he reaches forth, fingertips against those angry lines against his face. He should have expected a different sort of beast, he supposes. He had thought he’d be torn to shreds by a creature with dark fur and sharp claws. Jared thinks he wouldn’t mind the same fate by this one. Light hair, cut short but uneven. Eyes like the shade of new leaves of the oak tree. 

  
  


A hand grips his chin then, stilling Jared’s movements but his palm stays pressed against the man’s cheek. Those eyes narrow, examining Jared closely. 

  
  


“Why have you come here?” Quieter this time, less commanding. 

  
  


Jared lets his hand skim the line of the man’s jaw, exploring further. If he’s ripped into pieces, he might as well take what he can. The hand holding his chin jerks his face forward, forcing Jared to meet his eyes once again. Had he looked away? He hadn’t noticed. 

  
  


“They say there’s a beast that lives here,” Jared murmurs. 

  
  


The man’s eyes flicker over Jared’s face, searching for something he may not find. Jared’s the seeker here, doesn’t he know? Jared has nothing for anyone to uncover. 

  
  


“Have you found it?” the man asks, “Have you found your beast?”

  
  


“They say he’ll ravish you,” Jared answers, “I’ve yet found a beast to do so.”

  
  


The hand releases his chin, drifts down to his neck, a thumb pressing against his throat. Jared swallows, feels the pressure and wets his bottom lip. The man breathes out and he can still hear the underlying growl. “Is that what you’ve come here for?”

  
  


Jared doesn’t answer. Instead, he pushes off the wall slightly, into the beast’s space. He cranes his neck to fully face him, his eyes drawn to the lips of this tragically pretty creature. The thumb at his throat increases pressure. 

  
  


“None have come in search for…” the man faulters, averting his gaze to his hand over Jared’s neck. 

  
  


“A shame,” Jared says and captures that mouth with his own. 

  
  


A heartbeat or two later, the man finally reacts. He pushes Jared back against the wall, his form over his. Jared can hardly breathe with the sudden force, nearly losing his balance if not for the body nearly encompassing his. A tongue licks past his lips, demanding and insincere. Jared adores it. 

  
  


His hand reaches out, clasps the back of the man’s neck to anchor himself. A spike of thrilling pleasure erupts within him, his skin too tight and hot for his body. They’re too close, too impassioned, for where they are. But Jared finds he doesn’t quite care as a thigh is pushed between his legs. He whimpers softly as he mindlessly grinds against it, his cock filling and obvious against the thin material he wears. 

  
  


Then the kiss is broken and the beast tears himself away. He’s staring at Jared with wild heat and Jared can’t stop the involuntary shiver. He moves to close the space between them once more but the hand against his neck keeps him there. Jared’s his flick down and he spies the matching lust. Small indignation sparks within him. 

  
  


“You’d deny yourself?” Jared questions, childishly, voice nearly wrecked. 

  
  


Then he’s pulled against the beast and promptly thrown over his shoulder. Jared sputters, tense and fearful of falling right off as the man begins in another direction. “I wouldn’t deny a gift.”

  
  


He’s taken to a large room. Furniture ages old are scattered around the room, torn drapes frame the small balcony. And then there’s the huge bed Jared’s thrown onto. He bounces and a small sound is punched out of him. He scoots back until he feels the wall. It doesn’t quite matter because large hands grip his ankles and Jared’s being dragged back. 

  
  


The man is over him then, covering his entire body. Jared breathes out, a small smile lining his lips. It shouldn’t feel like a victory but it does. He’s found his beast from the east, hidden in the sea of trees and dense thicket. In the stonewall, with its cracks and big rats. He found the beast and had gotten what he wanted. No one else. 

  
  


A rough tug to his clothes jolt him out of his thoughts. Jared watches as the man studies him with some question. “What has you smiling?”

  
  


Jared raises himself to sit up, causing the man to lean back. It’s strange, he thinks, how pliant this beast seems to be. He reaches out once more, fingers against his jawline. “I wonder---are you a gentle beast?”

  
  


“Do you want me to be a gentle beast?”

  
  


_ Does it matter? _ Jared thinks to ask back but he’s grown tired of questions for answers. Instead he kicks off the rest of his clothing. Jared allows him to lay him back down, run his hands over his sides tantalizingly slow. It’s torturous. 

  
  


His mouth is even better when not asking him questions, he thinks, as his tongue explores Jared’s skin. Teeth graze his nipple, light and threateningly all at once. Jared’s hands move to touch him back, a useless attempt to bring that mouth to his. But with one hand, the man traps his wrists above his head. Jared arches into him, hips seeking out some type of friction. 

  
  


There’s a dark chuckle from the man, a rumble within his chest. Jared huffs out, growing frustrated and impatient. The sparks of his thrill from earlier has begun to simmer, burning and morphing into the lust he had been after. 

  
  


Another hand moves down between his legs and Jared stills. His breath hitches as a thumb moves over the head of his cock. A whine makes its way past his lips as he’s stroked lightly. It’s on purpose. It has to be. He jerks his hips into the hand but it doesn’t do him any good. The gentle touches have him reduced to a mewling mess beneath the man and he can hardly think past his want. 

  
  


“Is this all you’ve come here for, adventurer?” the beast asks, voice low. 

  
  


Jared doesn’t have it in him to answer, though. He snaps his eyes to meet the man’s gaze and breathes out a, “Please.”

  
  


That seems to be enough. The strokes have more purpose and he’s whimpering and writhing when he comes in the man’s hand. He feels manuable by the time it’s over, shaped into whatever the beast would like. 

  
  


But the beast only moves off him, sitting up and watching Jared with a strange fascination. With the sizeable bulge in his pants, Jared wonders why he hasn’t relieved himself. He’s denying himself, just like before. 

  
  
  
  
  


Dazed, he moves to the hem of the pants around the man’s waist. There’s a small protesting grunt but Jared ignores it. He manages to reveal the huge cock and thinks how it would absolutely destroy him if he’d fucked him tonight. He moves forward, licks the underside of the cock and he hears a barely suppressed groan. 

  
  


He engulfs the head in his mouth. There’s a hand in his hair then, tugging slightly. Jared takes him deeper, attempting not to gag as it hits the back of his throat. He paces himself, enjoying the sounds coming from the man. His hair is pulled every time he gets a little deeper, as if he’s keeping himself from taking control. 

  
  


And then he’s taken completely off with a small gasp. He peers up as the man gives himself a few more pulls to completion. The hand in his hair keeps him there and Jared closes his eyes as he comes over his face. Semen strings over his skin and he shudders. The hand lets go and Jared stares up. The man pants out, his gaze locked onto Jared. 

  
  


Jared darts his tongue out, captures some cum from the corner of his mouth. The man growls, grips his chin and crushes their mouths together. Jared welcomes it, relishes the lack of self-control. But just as fast as the kiss had begun, it comes to an abrupt halt and the man is off Jared and then moving across the room. 

  
  


He sits there, naked and strung out, watching as the man fishes around the room and finds what he had gone looking for. A cloth. Perhaps a torn piece of clothing. It’s tossed in Jared’s direction and he catches it. 

  
  


“Clean up,” comes the curt order. 

  
  


“Can’t stand a mess?” He says it mostly in jest but there’s an underlying annoyance with the sudden change of mood. Jared supposes he can’t expect much from a lonesome beast in a castle. But he does what he’s told. 

  
  


“No,” the beast answers, meeting his eyes and there’s something like that dark lust before, “I may want to take you again if you look like that any longer.”

  
  


Jared swallows, keeps himself from shuddering at the ghost of a promise. He wipes away what he can and slinks off the bed. His clothes aren’t hard to find and when he slips them on, he catches the beast watching. He grins. 

  
  


“Will you bury me in these walls now?”

  
  


The man tilts his head, gaze flickering over his form. “Is that the tale?”

  
  


“No,” Jared murmurs, shrugging his shoulders with a glance around the room, “But they say other things.”

  
  


“Is that why you came?” the man asks, a frown etched into his brow. “To see if the story was true?”

  
  


“Yes,” Jared answers truthfully, yet it feels like a lie.  _ I have nothing where the story came from.  _ “It hadn’t been such a terrible venture after all.”

  
  


“I suppose not.”

  
  


Jared hums and begins towards the door. It feels like an awful thing. To simply leave after this but if there’s nothing the beast asks for, then Jared assumes it’s the best choice he’s got. 

  
  


“Jensen,” the beast says as Jared turns away to leave.

  
  


He looks back with question. 

  
  


“My name,” he says, “Jensen.”

  
  


“Jensen then,” Jared grins, feeling a strange spark of joy beneath his skin. “Jared.”

  
  


The beast simply nods. Jared leaves. 

  
  


\---

  
  


He returns not long after the first time. Only a few days. 

  
  


It’s a craving, stuck inside his blood. Finding the castle is easier the second time around. It looks smaller now. A relic swallowed by nature’s steady growth. Nighttime brings about all types of monsters but he only seeks one. So Jared goes on his small journey in the early morning. 

  
  


The door is still open from the last time he had been here. As if this place is stuck in time unless an outsider has moved anything. Jared moves through the large foyer, careful of the broken glass this time and moves up the stairs. 

  
  


He doesn’t have to look much further because Jensen is standing at the top, staring down at him with a look of bewilderment. Jared tilts his head to the side, a growing smile upon his lips. 

  
  


“Do you ever grow tired of the same walls here?”

  
  


“You returned,” Jensen says, disregarding his question. 

  
  


Jared continues climbing the steps. “Will you bark at me? Tell me to leave?”

  
  


“I’d rather not,” Jensen replies, bristling as Jared nears. “Why?”

  
  


“Because the story said other things. I only wonder if they’re true,” Jared says, meeting him at the top of the stairs. Smirking, he leans into Jensen’s space, leaves a kiss against his jaw. “Humor me.”

  
  


Jensen watches him with bright eyes narrowed in his direction. Jared nudges him and laughs when Jensen picks him up and takes him to the room once again. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Jared stands at the balcony of the room, watches as the birds fly between the trees close by. A blanket had been draped over his shoulders not long ago in his quiet observations. Jensen hadn’t said a word but let a hand ruffle his hair before leaving him with the blanket for warmth. 

  
  


When he returns, Jared glances at the other man. The supposed beast. His eyes fall down to Jensen’s hands. 

  
  


“Will you let me see?” Jared moves to capture one hand in his, raising it to eye level. 

  
  


Jensen tenses, though it’s subtle. “What?”

  
  


“Your claws?”

  
  


Jensen snatches his hand back, leaning away from him. Jared looks at him curiously. “They don’t work that way anymore.”

  
  


“A beast no more?”

  
  


“A beast only for you.”

  
  


It’s such a strange thing to say but Jared lets it be. Jensen doesn’t say anything else and he doesn’t feel like sullying the calm afternoon with prodding. 

  
  
  


\---

  
  


That night, Jensen walks with him through the woods. He hadn’t asked him why but he rather appreciates the company. He thinks Jensen does too. 

  
  


They walk through the forest, making short conversation of boring things. The presence of the castle seems to fade as they walk away and part of him longs to go back, his village be damned. But Jensen doesn’t seem keen on keeping him there, which...he suppose is only fair. 

  
  


“You should clean it up,” Jared suggests, thoughtlessly. “The castle is rather dreary inside.”

  
  


“It still holds some of its magic,” Jensen answers, “Does it matter what it looks like?”

  
  


“No, but I’m sure even a lonely king would like a nice castle to live in.”

  
  


“I’m not a king.”

  
  


Jared flicks his gaze to Jensen and smirks. “No? Then what are you?”

  
  


“What you say,” he says quietly, “A beast.” Another pause. “Your beast.”

  
  


“Will my beast like another visit then?”

  
  


Jensen doesn’t answer right away. He’s staring at Jared with an unreadable expression. It’s as if he’s searching for the answer in Jared instead. But Jared has nothing left to offer, really. 

  
  


“I would.”

  
  


They walk until they reach the edge of the woods. Jared leaves him with a kiss to his cheek and watches with secret glee as Jensen’s fingers move to the side of his face, as if to keep the kiss there. 

  
  


\---

  
  


The next time he comes to the castle, the glass has been swept away and the dirt from the foyer is no longer there. 

  
  


\---

  
  


He continues coming to see Jensen. And Jensen continues to wait for him. 

  
  


It doesn’t take long for him to realize it but he hasn’t seen the claws and fangs since that first night. The stories of the beast promised this wild, dark creature but he meets a man at the castle instead. It’s a stark difference from what his mind had worked up to believe all these years. He won’t complain; he’s found a companion in his dangerous curiosity. 

  
  


But it still nags at him. What of those claws? He sees the marks along the walls, the shredded drapes. The fangs? The deer meat in the kitchen area hadn’t been put down by a hunter’s arrow. 

  
  


“How long have you been here?” Jared asks him, slinging a leg over Jensen’s as they lay in the bed. 

  
  


“For too long.”

  
  


“Then why not travel? Leave this place?”

  
  


“I have to stay where I’m bound.”

  
  


“And you are bound to the castle?” Jared questions, his fingers trailing up Jensen’s side. 

  
  


There’s no answer. Jared huffs. 

  
  


“Jensen.”

  
  


“No longer,” he answers. 

  
  


“What?”

  
  


Instead of elaborating, Jensen cranes his neck to kiss him. Jared doesn’t think much beyond that. 

  
  


\---

  
  


He hasn’t ever said his name. 

  
  


It’s been months since he’s given his name to Jensen, yet he hasn’t said it. Jared wonders if it’s how he is. This beast who speaks so proper, yet hasn’t had anyone to say a word to for so long. But it bothers him on some level. 

  
  


When they don’t fuck, they find themselves busy with lazy walks around the castle. Jensen shows him the large garden that is overgrown with wildflowers and weeds. It used to be something spectacular, Jensen tells him. He uses the vegetables every now and then. Jared supposes that’s when he’s not fully a beast. When he doesn’t crave a good hunt and raw meat. 

  
  


Sometimes they pass a clearing with marked stones. Jensen doesn’t have to tell Jared those are graves but he does say, “Those who had come looking to kill the beast.”

  
  


Jared wonders if he had been spared because of his mindless wish for adventure. Jensen must have known the story by now. Their first encounter had been something close to the tale. But Jensen hasn’t dragged him anywhere, hasn’t kept him. He lets Jared leave whenever he wants and doesn’t ask him to stay. Jared suspects there may be something there to inspect further but he doesn’t pry too far. 

  
  


Jensen, after all, doesn’t care for many questions. 

  
  


\---

  
  


But Jared can’t help it, sometimes. 

  
  


\---

  
  


“Why won’t you say it?” Jared murmurs, fingers tracing those familiar lines as Jensen moves inside him. He’s a desperate, whimpering thing beneath Jensen, chasing pleasure and whatever else this man will offer. “My name. Why won’t you say it, Jensen?”

  
  


There’s something much like conflict that flickers over Jensen’s features and he closes his eyes as he gives a particular hard thrust into Jared. It causes him to tremble, hands falling away from Jensen’s face and grip the forearms that bracket him. 

  
  


“Isn’t this enough?” Jensen asks, lips against his cheek, leaving light kisses there. “I am yours, after all.”

  
  


No. Not all all. It’s not enough if Jared can’t belong to him too. 

  
  
  


\---

  
  


Jared watches as the village people move about. The same, mundane actions as all the days before. He feels jaded. There’s nothing left for him here. It’s why he had left in the first place. 

  
  


Before Jensen, he had wanted to leave with all his heart. If there was a beast in the east, he would at least have some adventure before he was gobbled up. But now he has something else and he longs for it. 

  
  


Whatever magic the castle has leaves traces on his skin. He feels it, a string tugging from somewhere deep inside his chest. He knows where the other end is. He just doesn’t understand why it’s rubbed off against him. 

  
  


And then he remembers something. 

  
  


\---

  
  


“The magic,” Jared says the next day, numb and tired all at once, “It requires another to break it.”

  
  


“The most terrible ones do.”

  
  


“Then say my name.”

  
  


Jensen’s staring at him, dumbstruck. Jared wants to throw something at him, kick him over the bed with childish fury. He’s not stupid. Yet, Jensen doesn’t seem to think Jared could fathom the answer to his curse. 

  
  


A name. It’s all he needs to utter to break it. The idiot gave his way, binding him to Jared, yet he won’t do the same. The damned, stupid, infuriating idiot. 

  
  


“Say my name, Jensen,” Jared sits up, moving over Jensen’s body and straddling his hips. He grinds against him and nearly feels satisfaction when he feels Jensen get hard from the movement. “You give yourself away so freely but won’t let me have this.”   
  


“You will be bound to me forever,” Jensen whispers, followed by a moan as Jared ruts against him once more. His hands fly to Jared’s hips, stopping him. He breathes out, shakily and heavy. “Your adventure will end here. You will never be quite human.”

  
  


“And you wish me to stay that way,” Jared says, more cruelly than he intended. He bends forward and hisses against Jensen’s lips, “You want a human pet, yeah? A pretty thing until it bores you.”

  
  


Jensen’s fingers dig into his flesh and he feels the beginnings of the claws grow, nearly piercing his skin. “I want  _ you _ .”

  
  


Despite being held where he is, Jared manages to slowly guide Jensen’s cock to his hole, still slick from their previous fuck. “They say you keep your little treasures.”

  
  


Jensen doesn’t answer but he moans loudly as Jared sinks himself onto him. He trembles, legs drawn up slightly. He’s restraining himself, Jared realizes. And that only fuels him. 

  
  


“You’ll take me,” Jared says, a terrible sting in his eyes then, “ _ Fuck me _ , but you won’t keep me, Jensen?”

  
  


He moves up and down then, catching Jensen’s right wrist and forces it to his chest. Over Jared’s heart that beats wildly. 

  
  


“You’ll let me keep you but you can’t let yourself have me?”

  
  


“You---” Jensen throws his head back, muscles tense as he visibly stops himself from moving. 

  
  


“ _ Jensen _ , please---”

  
  


A sharp thrust up into him cuts Jared off and his breath hitches. And then there’s no stopping it. The rhythm is sloppy and harsh but Jared whimpers throughout, the pleasure making his thighs quake. Jensen grabs both his hips again but keeps Jared still to fuck into him now. 

  
  


Jared feels himself lose control, handed over to the beast under him. He pants, bracing a hand against Jensen’s chest to both support himself and keep Jensen there. He’ll take whatever bit of power he has left in this. A purposeful thrust has him whimpering, a thrum of pleasure overtaking him. 

  
  


“ _ Please _ ,” Jared begs again, that awful burn in his eyes returning. 

  
  


Jensen reaches for Jared’s hair, brings him down into a suffocating kiss. Another well-directed thrust and Jared cries out against his mouth as he comes, shaking and panting. Jensen follows soon after, shuddering and crushes Jared against him. 

  
  


Jared lets Jensen engulf him in the embrace and tries not to bring attention to the wetness under his eyes. 

  
  


\---

  
  


He doesn’t come back the next day. Or the days following. 

  
  


Jared moves about his life in the mundane. It’s boring and loathsome but it’s better than useless attempts to break a curse older than his village. The string in his chest feels taunt, tugging him to come back to the castle, to Jensen. 

  
  


At night, he thinks he might see a glint of something at the treeline. The familiar blaze of green eyes but it’s too far away to be sure. It doesn’t matter because Jared doesn’t stare for long. 

  
  


At times, there’s a particular pull. He nears the forest with dazed purpose, mindless and muted. He’ll snap himself out of it in time, yet it feels like a transgression each time. Turning away is like tearing himself off a snared trap. 

  
  


\---

  
  


It’ll be months later when he returns. 

  
  


He wakes with a heaviness inside his chest that he can’t shake. It’s Jensen. He knows it is. Something has changed. Or perhaps it’s just all caught up to him through the fickle bond that only works one way. 

  
  


When he leaves the village, no one notices. He moves through ancient trees, over the river and down the path where the brush grows the thickest. The castle stands as it always has but Jared feels its overwhelming presence now. It’s stronger now, as he stands before it. Perhaps in his time away, it has come back to life. 

  
  


Jared moves back into the foyer, where there is newly broken glass, fragments of what was once furniture strewn about. There’s claw marks that haven’t been there before. The castle had begun looking like a home when he had left and now it’s worse than when he first arrived. Jared’s heart sinks. 

  
  


He moves up the stairs, down the hallway and to the room, where he finds his beast. 

  
  


The room itself is a disaster. Nothing seems to have been left forgotten in the beast’s wrath. Whatever he and Jensen had begun to rebuild is now destroyed. His eyes fall upon what he had come searching for. 

  
  


Jensen has curled himself at the foot of the bed. Knees brought to his chest, head buried into his arms. He hasn’t noticed Jared yet. There’s a slight tremble in his muscles and Jared studies him as he nears, tentatively. 

  
  


He steps on some broken piece of ceramic and Jensen’s head snaps up. His eyes lock onto Jared and there’s utter shock written into his features. He gasps, scrambling to stand up. Jared notices a slight stagger as he does. 

  
  


“You…”

  
  


He looks wrecked. Pale, thinner. Weakened. Jared feels defeated. 

  
  


_ Your adventure will end here,  _ Jensen had told him. Jared doesn’t want it anymore. If this adventure is meant to destroy the beast, he can’t have it anymore. He had given up the childish notion months ago but now he understands the consequences. It never would have been worth it, Jared realizes. Leaving Jensen had felt like an open wound that never healed. 

  
  


It had been the same for Jensen too. 

  
  


“Jensen---”

  
  


“Why did you come here?” he rasps, bringing a hand over his face, as if to hide himself. “Why come back?”

  
  


Jared doesn’t have a good answer for him. He’s lost any pretense, any proper language. Instead he nears him, slowly, as if waiting for those pretty claws to tear into him like the sheets upon the bed. He breathes out, shakily, as he takes that hand and lowers it from Jensen’s face. 

  
  


Jensen’s staring at him with honest misery, eyes glittering. “Why?”

  
  


“They say a beast lives here,” Jared murmurs, his other hand moving to cup Jensen’s cheek and feels the stubble scrape against his palm. 

  
  


Jensen’s jaw sets, he swallows and his throat clicks. All Jared can do is stare back, silently beseeching him. When Jensen speaks, it’s quiet, like distant thunder, “You’ve found your beast. Here, he sleeps.” 

  
  


He’s known the tale all along, Jared thinks with some horror. He’s known all along and he still refused to keep Jared. And he’s beginning to understand why. 

  
  


_ I’ve betrayed you,  _ he thinks.  _ You gave your name in the hope I’d keep it safe. Keep you. _

  
  


Gently, he tugs Jensen to the bed, torn to shreds, but still good enough to sleep. There’s no protest, no resistance.  _ My gentle beast. _ Jensen curls himself around him. Jared lets him, resting his chin atop Jensen’s tousled hair. He closes his eyes and breathes out. 

  
  


He never has to say it. If he never says his name, Jared can live with it. He’ll take whatever Jensen can offer him. 

  
  


“I’ll keep you,” Jared whispers, “As long as I can, I’ll keep you.”

  
  
  


\---

  
  


It would be next autumn that Jensen says his name. 

  
  


It’s in the gardens that Jared’s been trying his best to tame. It’s harder than he initially believed. But with nothing much else to do at the castle, Jared had to find a hobby some sort besides taking Jensen to bed. 

  
  


Jensen had been weaving the stems of yellow flowers together. At first, Jared had thought he meant to make a type of decoration out of it. He had already convinced him flowers in the castle isn’t the  _ worst _ thing. But then he completes the circle and places it upon Jared’s head. 

  
  


There’s a burst of laughter from Jared as he shifts the crude form of a crown atop his head to fit better. “Is this my coronation?”

  
  


The corners of Jensen’s eyes crinkle as he smiles wide. “I had been a prince.”

  
  


Jared hums, returning to weeding the carrot patch. “Is that right?”

  
  


“I had been selfish and cared little of others,” he goes on, shifting his footing. It takes a moment for Jared to understand he’s nervous. He pauses, glancing up at Jensen with curiosity. “The curse was meant to teach me to give myself away. Die to myself.”

  
  


“I know, Jensen.”

  
  


Jensen looks at him then, expression full of conflict. “It’s supposed to be shared. I couldn’t…”

  
  


“I know.”

  
  


Jensen reaches down, tugs Jared to stand with him. Jared thinks of the dirt on his hands and nearly says something about it when Jensen speaks again. 

  
  


“Will you share it with me?”

  
  


Jared laughs, moves to steal a kiss. “I  _ am _ , Jensen,” he says against his lips. 

  
  


Jensen captures his face in his hands, presses his mouth against Jared’s forehead. “I’d rather keep you, Jared.”

  
  


He feels it, like a warmth in his chest. The air crackles around them, like the magic left in the castle has finally let it go. Jared breathes in, stares at him and feels the shock dance over his skin. 

  
  


The bond has clicked into place, like the last stone. Jared smiles, watches as Jensen grins in response and kisses him again. 


End file.
